President Obama declares 346,000 acres of San Gabriel Mountains a national monument

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President Obama signs a proclamation designating the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument at Bonelli Park on Friday, Oct. 10, 2014.

President Barack Obama declares a portion of the San Gabriel Mountains as a National Monument at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas, Calif. on Friday, Oct. 10, 2014. Supporters say the designation will bring federal dollars to the mountains, an area visited by 3 million people a year.

SAN DIMAS >> With the stroke of a pen, President Barack Obama designated nearly 350,000 acres of the San Gabriel Mountains as a national monument Friday.

The president used the 108-year-old Antiquities Act to do what two members of Congress and thousands of supporters could not do during the past 11 years — bring national recognition and more resources to the majestic mountains known as L.A.’s backyard playground.

During a ceremony at Frank G. Bonelli Park, Obama signed the six-page proclamation granting monument status to 346,177 acres of the mountains stretching from Castaic to Telegraph Peak above Upland, culminating an 11-year effort from San Gabriel Valley political, business and environmental leaders.

“I can think of no better way to honor our past and protect our future by preserving the San Gabriel Mountains,” Obama said during a 15-minute speech surrounded by about 250 invited guests perched above Puddingstone Lake.

The president, wearing shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbow and a blue-striped necktie, said the monument will connect people of color and families of lower socio-economic status to nature by bringing more money for transportation to the mountains, better trails and more interpretive programs.

“It is not enough to have this awesome natural wonder within your sight. You have to be able to access it,” Obama said. “So everybody in this diverse community, no matter where they come from or what language they speak can enjoy everything this monument has to offer.”

More than 15 million people live within 90 minutes of these mountains, which provide 70 percent of the open space for Angelenos, he said. But too often, the U.S. Forest Service is overwhelmed by tight budgets, filled parking lots and trashed trails and picnic grounds, Obama added.

Just before the president spoke, supporters announced a $3 million gift from the National Forest Foundation, plus an additional $500,000 from various nonprofit groups including the Annenberg Foundation, the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health and The California Endowment.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, who spearheaded the effort, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture will award the U.S. Forest Service, which will continue to manage the Angeles National Forest and the monument lands, a $1 million boost in its budget, bringing the total of new monies to $4.5 million.

“We will put that money into our facilities, our visitor centers and our crews,” said Tom Contreras, supervisor of the Angeles National Forest.

U.S. Forest Service Chief Thomas Tidwell said the monument designation will not take away recreational uses but add to them. “We want people to experience more recreational uses, whether mountain biking, hiking, or motorized recreation,” he said during an interview at the event.

The designation does not come without controversy.

More than 150 protesters held signs in front of the park saying they did not want the federal government to impose its will on the land or on its people. The bone of contention stems from the president’s use of the Antiquities Act, first used by President Teddy Roosevelt, to declare the San Gabriels a monument instead of allowing a bill by Chu to work its way through a Republican-majority House.

The idea of setting aside the San Gabriel Mountains as a national monument or possibly a national park began as a bill in 2003 by then Rep. Hilda Solis, now a Los Angeles County supervisor-elect who also served as Secretary of Labor under President Obama. The U.S. National Park Service study found the area had a unique ecology, endangered species such as the Santa Ana sucker fish and the mountain yellow-legged frog, as well as historical aspects that include the Mt. Wilson Observatory where Edwin Hubble first discovered the universe is expanding.

When Solis left office, the effort was transferred to Chu. The National Park Service held hearings in 2012 and 2013 and Chu met with numerous groups, including cities and water agencies, to gain support. In June, Chu introduced her bill to create the San Gabriel Mountains National Recreation Area, an idea that is similar to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to the west. Chu turned to Obama when her bill was stymied in Congress.

The protesters were kept away from the event but VIPs inside the park saw them as they drove inside.

“There are people who don’t want anything. They don’t want the president to do it because of who he is,” said Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-El Monte.

Napolitano pledged to work with those opposed, especially the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. “I want to know what are their concerns? How can we address those concerns,” she said.

Because of the San Bernardino County supervisors’ objections, Chu and Obama took out Wrightwood, Mt. Baldy, the Baldy ski lodge and Cucamonga Canyon from the monument boundary.

Napolitano said she wants to mollify the supervisors. “What if in the future they want to extend it?” she said.

Chu called it “a tragedy” that the administration removed Cucamonga Canyon, an area that is jammed with visitors who are often rescued from falls by local fire departments. She said the monument proposal would have brought resources to that canyon. The Rancho Cucamonga City Council supported Chu’s efforts.

“This is an historical moment in time for all Angelenos. Now this area will get the resources to reach the full potential of recreational use,” Chu said.

While protesters, some answering email blasts from Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, and tea party groups, said the monument would impinge on the area’s water supply during a severe drought, water officials at the event disagreed.

“That is a lot of paranoia,” said Gabriel Monares, consultant with the San Gabriel Valley Water Co. which supports the monument designation and has worked out language in the proclamation that protects water sources such as the San Gabriel River for all water agencies.

“Those people have a different agenda and are trying to use the water issues,” Monares said.

Obama avoided the tea party accusations and instead focused on his message: Making the San Gabriel Mountains more reachable for Latinos, African Americans and Native Americans and all people who live in Southern California. The reason he came to the San Gabriel Valley was to answer the call of people for social justice, he said.

“We heard from the community. For a lot of urban families, this is their only outdoor space, especially children of color who don’t have access to parks.”

He invited Brenda Kyle, a Duarte single mom and a Latina who is a docent at Eaton Canyon in Pasadena, up to the podium to help him sign the proclamation. She had never set foot in the mountains under adulthood, he said.

“For Brenda, for the entire community, this is an issue of social justice,” the president said.

Then Obama returned to the familiar theme of “hope” from his 2008 presidential campaign:

“The San Gabriel Mountains National Monument will join a vast landscape of protected national treasures. The wilderness is a segment once called part of the geography of hope. I want to ensure this geography of hope is for all Americans.”

Steve Scauzillo covers environment and transportation for the Southern California News Group. He has won two journalist of the year awards from the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club and is a recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award for Distinguished Editorial Writing on environmental issues. Steve studied biology/chemistry when attending East Meadow High School and Nassau College in New York (he actually loved botany!) and then majored in social ecology at UCI until switching to journalism. He also earned a master's degree in media from Cal State Fullerton. He has been an adjunct professor since 2005. Steve likes to take the train, subway and bicycle – sometimes all three – to assignments and the newsroom. He is married to Karen E. Klein, a former journalist with Los Angeles Daily News, L.A. Times, Bloomberg and the San Fernando Valley Business Journal and now vice president of content management for a bank. They have two grown sons, Andy and Matthew. They live in Pasadena. Steve recently watched all of “Star Trek” the remastered original season one on Amazon, so he has an inner nerd.